Selena Quintanilla Perez, known to fans simply as Selena, was a young, lively spirit with a personality larger than life. She grew into her adult stardom after a childhood performing with her siblings. Selena’s passion for music and genuine zest for life carried her into a wildly successful career where she would permanently change Tejano music for the better. For many, she was the first representation of a Texas Mexican American in popular music. Her first language was English, and slowly, she learned Spanish, first through phonetic pronunciation for her music that evolved into a fluency that would help Selena capture the hearts of Spanish-speaking fans worldwide. She embraced her Mexican heritage, and her use of Spanglish in interviews became a part of her that fans could both laugh at and identify with. She was beautiful, unique, and inspirational.
Today, Selena is remembered as a style icon. She took pride in her clothing, and always performed in immaculate outfits, which she often designed and assembled herself. The staples in her wardrobe were bedazzled bustiers, bras from Victoria’s Secret that she covered in Swarovski crystals herself. Later in her career, she worked closely with fashion designer Martin Gomez, who produced many of Selena’s most iconic looks. Since Selena’s death, Gomez has been interviewed many times, recalling his experiences with the megastar. He recounts the day they met for Texas Monthly, later quoted in Women’s Health Mag saying:
“I was having lunch at the little coffee shop inside the Woolworth’s in Corpus when this beautiful creature walked in wearing a black catsuit, Chanel belt, and boots. Her hair was pulled back and she was fully made-up. She did not look like anybody I’d ever seen. She was stunning, and she had such an air of confidence and sophistication,” the fashion designer recalled to Texas Monthly. “I said, ‘Who is that?’ The woman I was with said, ‘Oh, my God, that’s Selena! She’s really famous.’ Well, I didn’t know who she was, but I took a napkin with me—I had never done anything like that before—and asked for her autograph.”
Selena’s love for fashion inspired her to open two boutiques in Texas, aptly named Selena Etc., that provided customers with a variety of services. Customers could have their hair styled, and could also purchase accessories and clothes designed by Selena and Martin Gomez. The pair worked together to manufacture the clothes for Selena Etc., styled to pay homage to Selena’s Latina heritage. Selena is seen in the video below guiding a camera around her store, full of pride.
She was honored to be an independent businesswoman, on an entrepreneurial venture completely separate from her family and her music. In 1994, Yolanda Saldívar, a Selena superfan responsible for running the Selena Fan Club, was tasked with taking over the two boutiques. Saldívar and Selena had developed a close personal relationship, and Saldívar was heavily involved in Selena’s life, happy to accept this responsibility to help the singer with her passion for fashion.
Selena wore her most famous outfit in February 1995, the night of her third and final performance at the Houston Astrodome. As described by The Selena Museum, she wore an “iconic jumpsuit…personally designed by Selena in her favorite color, purple…The purple jumpsuit features bell bottoms and rhinestone brooches at the side of both knees and at the front of the removable jacket.”
Even twenty-five years after Selena’s death, fans wear the dazzling jumpsuit on Halloween every year, honoring Selena and the imprint she left on the lives of millions. Celebrities from Keke Palmer to Kim Kardashian to Demi Lovato have worn Selena-inspired fashion to remember the legacy she left behind.
The purple jumpsuit wasn’t the most iconic thing to come from the Astrodome though. The venue itself was a recurring item in Selena’s career, and she played a total of three shows in Houston in 1993, 1994, and finally in 1995, where she donned the royal, shimmering attire. Selena broke the all-time attendance record for the Astrodome, drawing an audience of 60,000 supporters. She was interviewed before her first performance in 1993, saying, “I thought people wouldn’t come,” later sharing feelings of nervousness and excitement. The show was recorded and released as an album, Selena Live!, later that year, and won a Grammy for best Mexican-American album. At each subsequent show, Selena drew back that same crowd of 60,000. No one was to know that the February 1995 performance would be her last major concert before her untimely passing. On the 25th anniversary of her death, Fox Houston interviewed Raul Juarez, a marine who escorted Selena at her final Astrodome performance in 1995. He remembers, “Her charisma, her smile, her being so humble. A family girl – somebody who set an example for a lot of Latinas.”
The story of her death is a horrible one. Selena was lured to the motel room of her fan club president Yolanda Saldívar, thinking she was there to collect business papers from her boutique. Selena and her family suspected that Saldívar had been embezzling money, and requested the stores’ financial documents to confirm their suspicions. Saldívar finally turned them over, but as Selena turned to leave the motel, Saldívar drew a gun and shot Selena in the chest. Selena died at the hospital, and Saldívar remained at the motel, where a multiple hour-standoff ensued with police. Saldívar was later charged with murder in 1995 and sentenced to life with the possibility of parole after 30 years.
Across America, Selena’s death was portrayed in many ways. Across the country, The New York Times covered her murder under the headline “Grammy-Winning Singer Selena Killed in Shooting at Texas Motel” – “Selena, the 23-year-old reigning queen of the Tejano music world, was shot and killed today at a Corpus Christi motel,” the newspaper wrote. This northeastern coverage of the tragedy focused more on what a loss Selena’s death was for Tejano and Latino music and remembers her for her personality and dazzling appearance. Fans were sad and the country was grieving. The newspaper merely glazed over the details of the murder.
Meanwhile, The Baytown Sun, based in Baytown, Texas, outlined the “Famed Tejano singer Selena gunned down at motel by ex-employee” in a much different light. It was written with an obvious air of intense anger and focuses on the injustice of Selena’s murder and her relationship with Saldívar. It described the series of events leading up to her death in explicit detail and even explained the standoff that ensued between Saldívar and Corpus Christi police after the killing took place. Not until the end of the article are Selena’s career highlights mentioned, almost as if the writer of the Texas-based story was refusing to acknowledge that Selena was truly gone. In El Editor, West Texas’ Oldest Weekly Bilingual Newspaper, Selena’s murder made front-page headlines. El Editor dedicated multiple pages to Selena’s death, paying tribute to her career in both English and Spanish, calling attention to the significance of her career to Latino music, and to her fans around the world.
Fans continue to grieve the loss of Selena, and remember her as a pop star and a pioneer for Tejano music, the first instance of Tex-Mex influence in popular culture. Selena’s English album Dreaming of You was released posthumously, in July 1995. It sold three million copies and went platinum fifty-nine times. Selena was on track to achieve megastardom. In 2011, the United States Postal Service honored Selena and four other Latin entertainers in U.S. commemorative Forever stamps to share the legacy of these performers:
“Texas-born Selena Quintanilla-Perez (1971-1995) — known to fans simply as Selena — helped transform and popularize Tejano music by integrating techno-hip-hop beats and disco-influenced dance movements with a captivating stage presence. A Grammy recipient, the “Queen of Tejano” broke gender barriers with record sales and awards. Even after her tragic death, Selena remains an important representative of Latin culture.”
United States Postal Service, 2011
Works Cited
Associated Press. “Famed Tejano singer Selena gunned down at motel by ex-employee.” The Baytown Sun, 2 Apr. 1995, p. 3A.
Colloff, Pamela. “Dreaming of Her.” Texas Monthly, 15 Mar. 2021, www.texasmonthly.com/arts-entertainment/dreaming-of-her/.
“Cortan Corto la Vida de Selena.” El Editor, [Lubbock], 6 Apr. 1995, p. 1.
Garza, Frida. “Selena Embraced Her Heritage and Championed Its Evolution in Style.” Texas Monthly, 15 Oct. 2021, www.texasmonthly.com/arts-entertainment/selena-fashion-icon/.
Hee, Natalie. “Marine Fondly Remembers Escorting Selena in 1995.” FOX 26 Houston, 26 Feb. 2020, www.fox26houston.com/news/marine-fondly-remembers-escorting-selena-in-1995. Accessed 27 Oct. 2021.
Howe Verhovek, Sam. “Grammy-Winning Singer Selena Killed in Shooting at Texas Motel.” The New York Times, 1 Apr. 1995, p. 1.
Kirkland, Justin. “Yolanda Saldívar Was Once Selena’s Biggest Fan. Now She’s Serving Life in Prison.” Esquire, 11 Dec. 2020, www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a34930281/yolanda-saldivar-selena-quintanilla-killer-now/.
Kraul, Miguel. “Selena Interview Astrodome 1993 (With English Subtitles).” YouTube, 15 Dec. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qcZNhhCRj4. Accessed 27 Oct. 2021.
“Latin Music Legends.” About.usps.com, about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2011/pr11_024.htm.
Miranda, Christine. “Still Dreaming of You: Selena’s Outfit at the Smithsonian.” National Museum of American History, 21 Oct. 2015, americanhistory.si.edu/blog/2014/09/still-dreaming-of-you-selenas-outfit-at-the-smithsonian.html.
N.Y. Times News Service. “SELENA: A pioneer of new form of pop music.” El Editor, [Lubbock], 6 Apr. 1995, p. 4.
Nicolaou, Elena. “Selena Quintanilla’s Killer, Yolanda Saldívar, Is Up for Parole in 2025.” Oprah Daily, 6 May 2021, www.oprahdaily.com/entertainment/a31881895/yolanda-saldivar-now/.
The Selena Museum. “The Purple Jumpsuit – View 1.” Google Arts & Culture, artsandculture.google.com/asset/the-purple-jumpsuit-view-1-selena-quintanilla/lgF2s7HM_nq70Q. Accessed 27 Oct. 2021.
Selena World. “Selena shows her Boutique / Clips inside her two Boutiques in Texas.” YouTube, 20 July 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkcSXm3YLAU. Accessed 27 Oct. 2021.
“Selena’s Fashion Designer Martin Gomez Warned Her About Yolanda Saldívar.” Women’s Health, 6 May 2021, www.womenshealthmag.com/life/a36355424/selena-martin-gomez-fashion-designer-now/.
